Is this what you call a family?
by Kretari - daughter of Hermes
Summary: When Merlin first arrives in Camelot, Arthur is quite surprised by his actions. While he doesn't know Merlin very well, coming into Camelot injured and scared has an impact on people like the prince. Especially when it comes down to what happened to cause that. Hurt!Merlin, Protective!Arthur and Knights; will have Good!Morgana and Mordred.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Ugh. I got this idea while I was listening to music. The title is from 'A Trophy Father's Trophy Son' by Sleeping With Sirens. It has recently become one of my all time favorite songs. It's amazing. If you haven't heard it, I recommend it..as well as just the band in general. Yeah..just go listen to Sleeping With Sirens, people, if you haven't already!**

**Anyways, yeah..moving on. **

**I got to searching through prompts for this fandom and can't help but notice that while people like the hurt fics and stuff for this fandom, nobody's said anything about an abuse type fic. And I want to try my hand at something like that. So..yeah, warnings may be needed? I dunno. Just..if something bothers you while you're reading..then, I fully apologize. Just know it's hard for me to **_**write**_**, as well as for you to read. I trigger very easily and having come from an abusive background like I have, I'm very likely to trigger myself back into self-harming..and yeah, I don't want to be **_**killed**_** so we're going to try avoiding that, yeah? Besides, I don't wanna relapse in my recovery just yet! By the way, on that note..I would highly appreciate some alternatives to self-harm besides music and writing..because even those are triggering me as of late and I'm kind of hesitant to try that again right now with all that's going on..**

**Anyways, I've rambled long enough.**

**Enjoy. **

Black, blue, purple, yellow and red. It was just a mixture of colours that covered every inch of exposed skin. And the _pain_ that came with every _step_ of this walk was absolute torture, worse than any other kind of torture he could possibly think of, and a few he couldn't.

As the boy wandered in blindly, Arthur found himself feeling worried for the small youth. He was young, that was apparent, couldn't be much older than he himself was.

Arthur studied the boy, trying to pick up on anything else concerning besides the bruising and cuts. There was tattered, dirty gauze hanging from below the boy's shirt with blood splatters that had long since dried on it. He was limping and had a wrist wrapped tightly in old, dirty gauze as well. Worst of all, however, was the fact that even from this distance, even through the clothing, Arthur could count ribs. While that wasn't odd from travellers as of late, the fact that he was so malnurished and injured on top of it really made Arthur snap. He moved from the training grounds to guide the boy over to the other knights, who had stopped and were staring at him in confusion.

He couldn't get the other male to look up or speak for the longest after he got him to the other knights.

Then Leon spoke up. "So, since you aren't answering our dearest prince's questions, will you tell me who you're here in search of?"he asked softly. "Maybe we could help you find them,"

That got him to look up.

Deep blue eyes that were so bright and innocent cut through all the knights. The broken look in them broke their hearts. Who would hurt someone like this?

But still no speech, so Leon spoke again. "Will you tell us your name?"

Hesitance showed up in the blue eyes for a moment before a soft voice came through. "I'm Merlin."he replied calmly, though his voice shook and broke quite a bit, sounding quite scared.

Leon nodded in understanding. "Shall we take you to Gauis? Get you looked over?"

Merlin's eyes lit up. "Gauis? Where is he?"

Arthur smiled softly. "Oh, so you know Gauis, then?  
Merlin's eyes dimmed again and flashed in almost anger before he replied. "No. My mother..she sent me to him...but..."he trailed, not looking like he wanted to speak on the subject.

"Right, well, let's get you to him, then."Arthur said.

The knights stayed behind, saying they'd be cleaning the training grounds up a little bit so that Arthur and Merlin could get to Gauis's chambers without them holding them back while they gathered swords and put them in their places.

The door to Gauis's chambers made the old man look up curiously. He almost went back to his work until he got a good look at Merlin, who was toying with a letter.

"Who's this and what happened?"Gauis asked, voice almost impatient as he looked at the damage he could see.

Arthur responded calmly. "His name's Merlin. His mother sent him. As to what happened, I've not the slightest idea. He didn't say more than his name and that his mother sent him here to see you."

Gauis looked at Merlin before he nodded. "Hunith's son, I suppose?"

Merlin nodded.

"Come have a seat. Just leave that laying on the table. I want to have a good check over you, see what all's wrong."

Arthur shifted from foot to foot and Merlin was silent as he took a seat where directed.

Then the prince spoke. "So, Merlin. Where are you from?"he asked.

"Ealdor,"

The short response was full of half-longing, half-fear. It startled Arthur greatly to hear such a tone in the boy's soft voice.

Throughout the entire check-over, Arthur stayed put, worrying over the smaller boy in a way that surprised the Knights, who were all hanging around either in the chambers out of the way or in the hall so as to not crowd Merlin.

Merlin remained eerily silent, even though Arthur _knew_ that some of the minstrations had to have hurt, especially the resetting of the boy's left wrist.

But silence was all that ever came from Merlin. His mouth twisted into a pained scowl at times, but he never made a sound.

Once Merlin was patched up, Arthur motioned for him to come along with him and the others.

Arthur gave a kind smile to the physician. "We'll have him back here before dinner,"he promised. "But I'd like to get to know him a bit more."

Silence filled the group as they walked through the halls.

It was only out in the courtyard that Merlin spoke. "Why would you want to get to know me?"he asked, a slight hesitance showing in his voice.

"Because you came into my father's kingdom beat to a pulp, but you seem so together about it. It's concerning,"Arthur admitted. "Is this a normal occurance for you?"

Merlin swallowed and looked down, not answering.

Arthur nodded that he understood anyways. "What about your mother? She send you here to keep you safe?"

Merlin didn't glance up, but he spoke. "She sent me here because I have family here,"he said, tone clipped and guarded.

Arthur examined Merlin before he sighed. "We'll have to get some weight onto you,"he remarked. "You're so thin that I can count bones right now, and that state won't help you with the healing."

Merlin shrugged.

Leon frowned at Merlin before he spoke. "Should we go get Gwen and Elyan, introduce him to them?"

Arthur thought it over before he nodded. "Gwen's with Morgana, though, so it can wait."

However, around a half hour later, while the group was sitting out in the sunshine and still throwing questions at Merlin which weren't being answered, Morgana and Gwen hurried over.

Morgana kneeled down and tilted Merlin's face up to frown at the bruising and cuts covering the surface of the pale skin. Then she turned to glare at Arthur. "Why did you not send for me?!"she demanded. "When one of the servants told me that you had an injured boy with you..!"

Arthur held his hands up. "Sorry. I didn't think it important to tell you straight away,"

"Have you - ?"Morgana started, Arthur cutting her off.

"We've taken him to see Gauis. Gauis is actually who he was sent looking for."

Merlin looked highly uncomfortable, as he still couldn't move without attracting attention from everyone and the weight of one of Morgana's hand against a cut running along the side of his neck was _really_ beginning to hurt. After a while, he cleared his throat, interupting the banter. "Pardon, but can you please back up a bit...?"he asked, jaw half-locked.

Morgana immediately let her hand drop and scrambled back again. She gave him a sorrowful look. "Are you certain you're alright?"

Merlin nodded, though the movement was jerky and forced. "Yeah. A bit of rest and ointment and I'll be good as new,"he responded cheerfully, giving a weak smile.

Leon grinned. "That's the spirit,"he cheered.

As soon as the attention was off him, Merlin's smile fell away and he focused on trying to get the pain to go away from the edges of his mind so he could focus on the conversations around him.

That evening after dinner, Arthur couldn't help but think about Merlin, how different he was from others who were in his same position before. Whereas they were all so bitter and vengeful, Merlin was still trying to be happy and look on the bright side and help others, as became apparent when he helped one of the stable hands when they nearly dropped one of the heavy saddles while putting it away. Although he was injuried so much, he had managed to get it put where it belonged and had then gave the other a kind, reassuring smile.

He certainly was a mystery, much more so than the prince was used to facing in Camelot's confines.

**Okay, covering the bases I know here..No, not proper talk for the time period - I'm not going to give myself the worst migrane in history trying to write something like old-time talk when I can't do it and am certain of it. Also..OOC? Yeah, more than likely. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So. Back from a camping trip with the family. I am in so much pain right now it's not even funny. So, I'm here. I spent the whole long weekend near people, I'm going to spend some time with you internet folk for a while before going back to school, damn it.**

**I'm glad people seem to like this story, I wasn't expecting it to be so welcomed. **

**To those who reviewed:**

**Lynda-Lee: Glad you thought it was interesting. I do hope this is soon enough for you..?**

**RangerMarie: Glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for understanding about the language. I just can't force myself to write in old english. It literally hurts my head trying to. **

**orionastro: Thanks, glad you think so! And as for why Merlin doesn't use his powers to heal himself..there are certain situations where you wouldn't be able to do something like that. I can see an abuse case as one of those situations. Having come from an abusive background myself..it leaves you scared and it makes you feel powerless. If he's scared, his magic kinda goes hay-wire, you know? So he won't try to in fear of getting in trouble.**

**Amy Nouson: Glad you liked it!**  
**KmKizmet: Glad you think so. I'm glad you like it.**

**MerlinAndTwilight: They were, weren't they? And well..Arthur isn't really that big of a prat, anyways. He has his moments, but so does everyone else. But he's also prince so it's more..outright stared at than anyone else.**

**Guest: Soon enough?**

**BabyGlover: Planning on it!**

**Guest: Glad you think so!**

**Enjoy.**

The days passed slowly. Merlin slowly became more used to the knights and prince being around him, as well as Gwen and Morgana, who had became much more stationary after the first couple of days.

The thing that surprised the group the most was the fact that Merlin was so trusting of them. He always looked to the bright side and was almost always smiling and laughing with them. Still, the cuts and bruises were still healing up at their own pace and there were days were it hurt for Merlin to move and laugh and talk much because of the injuries he was hiding under his clothing.

It was on one of those days about a week after Merlin really started opening up to the knights that he found himself in the courtyard, enjoying the sunshine. It was still warm out and Merlin was glad that he'd decided to drag hself up out of bed that morning.

About ten minutes later, he heard the jeering laughter he was used to by now from the knights and moved to see what was going on.

He froze where he stood when he caught sight of Arthur and a couple of the older knights standing near a young-looking servant. He couldn't be older than Arthur and Merlin.

_Target practice. It's only target practice,_ Merlin thought, but his eyes widened in horror when Arthur threw a balde into the target while the servant carried it.

One of the knights - Percival, Merlin's mind supplied - caught sight of the raven-haired boy and spoke softly to Arthur, who jerked a bit and looked up to see Merlin staring at him with wide eyes that shown in surprise and hurt.

Arthur dropped the blades in his hands and yelled out. "Merlin!"

But Merlin's eyes had teared up and he took off running in the other direction. Away. Just _away_.

Arthur went to go after him, but Percival caught him. "Nope, you've done enough damage."he said. His voice sounded disapproving. "I told you it was a bad idea, did I not? Now Merlin's seen you do that and is probably horrified by what he's just seen."

"I didn't mean for him to see.."Arthur responded.

About an hour later, Gwen stormed out to Arthur and the knights on the training grounds. She stopped in front of Arthur, glaring icily at him. "What have you done?"she demanded. "Merlin showed up at Morgana's door having a panic attack! We had to call Gauis to come help, and he's only just now calmed enough to _breathe _normally,"

Arthur frowned. "I'm sorry, Gwen. Is he okay?"

Gwen's eyes softened and she frowned. "He's terrified. Wouldn't let Gauis come near him. Barely let Morgana lead him to a seat. He was having enough trouble today as it was, and you went and made it worse. I hope you're proud of yourself."

Percival spoke softly. "Think I could come speak with him?"he asked.

Gwen shook her head. "He won't speak to anyone. Just make sure your prat is ready to deal with him tomorrow, we'll make sure he gets out here."

Arthur didn't rest at all that evening. He knew he'd hurt Merlin. He hadn't meant for him to see that.

The following morning during training, Merlin came up, arms around himself tightly and stopped a distance away from them. His smile was gone and his eyes showed nothing but fear and doubt.

Arthur immediately dropped his weapons and gave Merlin a searching look.

Percival spoke softly when Merlin had come to a stop near them. "Hello, Merlin."he greeted.

Merlin gave a smile in response. "Hello, Percy."

Percival smiled softly. "I hope the prat didn't scare you too much,"he commented. "He didn't mean to scare you."

Merlin gave Arthur a look before a frown showed up. "Not too much,"he responded.

"I am sorry, Merlin."Arthur said, voice soft.

Merlin's eyes narrowed. "You reminded me of my father, you know. He was always the kind to act without thinking too. And it usually led to injuries, and almost got my mother killed."he deadpanned. "I don't care that you're sorry, Arthur. You had no right to do something like that to anyone! What if you had missed? You would have killed him and felt no remorse!"

Arthur flinched back at that. "I didn't mean..."

"For me to see,"Merlin finished. "I know. Morgana told me. So did Gwen. But I did. And you've reminded me of the worst possible person I know. How am I supposed to trust you if all you do is hurt others?"

Arthur had the decency to stop and look down.

Leon sighed at this scene. "Now, Merlin. You don't know the whole story. He had others pressuring him into it."

Merlin looked to Leon before he nodded. "Fine."he grumbled.

After that, Merlin stayed away in bed for a good week. He carefully avoided the knights and the prince for the week after that. Then things went back to normal like none of it had ever happened.

The knights grew more protective over Merlin, and Arthur always kept a close eye on the warlock carefully to make sure no harm could befall him.

Merlin went out of his way to help the other servants as much as he could, as well as helping Gauis when he was needed. He never stayed in one spot for longer than it took to get a task accomplished unless he was hanging around talking with someone. And there were plenty of people to talk to, plenty of people asking how he was or what he was up to. Most of the people in Camelot knew Merlin because the knights and Arthur were always talking either with him or about him. He'd fast become like a brother to them, someone they'd defend to the death.

Merlin couldn't help but think it was nice to have people in his life that cared that much for him.

**I'm exhausted. So..I'll go back and read this after I've recouped from my terrible camping experience and want to kill myself for all the mistakes and mischaracterisations. But I've got a skit to worry about tomorrow. And I need some damned sleep..**

**So, yeah.**


End file.
